Campus Tornado Safety Tips

Monday, March 24, 2008

from OSU Risk Management and Environmental Health & Safety

(March 24, 2008   Stillwater, OK) - Tornado season in Oklahoma is generally from March through June.  (Although tornados can occur at any time of the year, they are more likely to form during the spring months.)  Now is the time to decide the best course of action to take in case the tornado warning sirens sound while you are in class, on your job, in university housing or in off-campus housing.

Remember, you are responsible for finding shelter in the event of a tornado.

Persons with disabilities who are mobility impaired must also make plans.  If a power outage occurs during severe weather, elevators may not work.  Go to a small interior room or closet (or a landing in an interior stairwell); stay away from windows and exterior walls.

If you are on the main campus during a normal workday, the best places to seek shelter are in buildings with basements.

If the building you are in does not have a basement, go to the ground floor and get in an interior (windowless) room or hallway (put as many walls between you and the outside as possible).  It is too risky to go to another building once the storm sirens are sounding.

These buildings have basements:  4-H Bldg., Ag Hall, Architecture, Bennett Hall, Business, Classroom, Colvin, Cordell, Engineering North & South, Gallagher-Iba, Human Environmental Science, Iba Hall, Library, Life Science East & West, Math Science, Noble, North Murray, Parker Hall, Physical Science, Scott Hall, Seretean Performing Arts Center, Small Grains, Stout Hall, Student Union, Seretean Wellness Center, Wentz Hall, and Willard Hall.  (Note that some of these basements are quite small.)

Some places of concern on campus are the glass-walled hallways and lobbies of the Colvin Center, Food & Agricultural Products Center, Wes Watkins CITD Building, the atrium areas of the Noble Research Center and the Student Union, and the Kerr-Drummond mezzanine.  It is best to stay away from these areas when looking for shelter.

After hours, Campus Police will open four buildings for general shelter in the event of tornadic weather:  4-H, Ag Hall, Engineering South, and the Student Union.  Monitor weather reports and go to these buildings when it begins to storm; if the sirens are sounding, it is too late to seek other shelter.

A good idea would be for your office to have a drill during the next regularly-scheduled storm siren test (1st Tuesday of every month at 11:30 a.m.).  The Environmental Health & Safety Department encourages you to take responsibility for plans in your area.

Post this notice http://www.pp.okstate.edu/ehs/chapters/tornado_info.htm on bulletin boards in your area.  It contains information on after-hour shelter sites and local radio stations.

More information on tornado safety can be found on the EHS web site weather page at http://www.pp.okstate.edu/ehs/weather.htm